Fluminense take first-leg lead, cruise past Platense at Maracanã | OneFootball

With a commanding first-half performance, Tricolor beats the Argentine side 2-0 in the first leg of the quarterfinals

Fluminense took an important step toward the Conmebol Libertadores semifinals on Tuesday night. Playing at the Maracanã, more than 50,000 fans watched Tricolor build a 2-0 win over Platense in the first half, with goals scored by Nonato and Hulk.

The Match

The match started slowly at the Maracanã, but Fluminense took control after the 10-minute mark and began pressing Platense’s buildup. In the 20th minute, Tricolor opened the scoring on a deadly counterattack: Ganso won the ball in midfield, found Soteldo, and the ball reached Hulk, who played Nonato through. The midfielder surged into open space and finished past the goalkeeper to make it 1-0.

Fluminense doubled the lead in the 31st minute after a brilliant assist from Ganso. The number 10 found Hulk unmarked in the box, and the forward simply slotted it into the corner for the second. After scoring, the team lowered the intensity and handed possession to Platense, but managed the match calmly and faced no danger until the halftime whistle.

In the second half, Fluminense adopted a more defensive approach to protect the result. The Argentines’ best chance came in the 11th minute, but Millan came up big to block the shot and prevent the goal. With Lucho Acosta, Savarino, Hércules, and Cano coming on throughout the second half, Tricolor alternated between moments of control and some scares at the back, but managed to secure the win until the final whistle.

Next match

Fluminense returns to action next Saturday at 4 p.m. to face Atlético-MG at Arena MRV in the Brazilian Championship. After that, Tricolor travels to Argentina next week for the second leg against Platense to decide a place in the Libertadores semifinals.

This article was translated into English by Artificial Intelligence. You can read the original version in 🇧🇷 here.